Forbes Asia August 2017

CONTENTS — AUGUST 2017

COMPANIES, PEOPLE

12 | SCORING WITH THE ‘UNSCORABLE’

Chinese fintech firms use their big data to extend credit to the smartphone masses.

BY REBECCA FENG

15 | FACE TIME

China is quickly embracing facial-recognition technology, for better and worse.

BY YUE WANG

16 | NEXT TYCOONS: HONG KONG HOMECOMING

Sonia Cheng grew up in New World hotels. Now she’s opening new ones for the family

empire as her Rosewood Hotel Group keeps expanding.

BY RON GLUCKMAN

20 | REINVENTING SUSHI

Entrepreneur Fumihiko Konishi is serving up halal sushi for the masses.

BY CHEN MAY YEE

23 | THE NEW FACE OF FLIGHT

Cirrus CEO Dale Klapmeier talks personal single-engine jets.

BY RICH KARLGAARD

24 | SERIAL PLEASURE

China’s online reading craze is so big it’s challenging Amazon’s Kindle.

BY JINSHAN HONG

70 | AUSTIN POWERED

Real estate mogul Nate Paul has an $800 million net worth. Wait until he turns 31.

BY NATHAN VARDI

76 | DEAL TOY: A PIECE OF THE ROCK

Looking back at the 1989 purchase of Rockefeller Center by a Japanese conglomerate.

BY ANTOINE GARA

77 | BORDEAUX TO YIWU

How European wine is now going to China on Silk Road trains.

BY WADE SHEPARD

TECHNOLOGY

60 | BUILD, RACE, FIGHT... AND CHAT

Discord’s communications service for gamers has outgrown messaging giant Slack.

BY KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI

FORBES LIFE

78 | THE LONG GAME

An exclusive look at Congaree, a new South Carolina golf club.

BY ERIK MATUSZEWSKI

80 | THOUGHTS

On bubbles.

VOLUME 13 NUMBER 7

S PAGE 46

“PEOPLE THINK

HOTEL 81 MEANS

GEYLANG. DIFFERENT

NAMES CAN CATCH

DIFFERENT FISH.”

—CHOO CHONG NGEN, Hotel 81

founder, with daughter Carolyn, CFO

4 | FORBES ASIA AUGUST 2017

T PAGE 42

“THERE ARE PLENTY

OF DOCTORS, IF YOU

KNOW HOW TO LOOK

FOR THEM.”

—LOO CHOON YONG, cofounder

of Raffles Medical Group